Windows 10 is getting an integrated GIF search, improvements to voice typing and other new features, Microsoft Senior Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a Windows blog post. All are currently in beta testing. The overall goal of the new features, LeBlanc said, is to improve the system’s ability to help you communicate via voice and text on your devices.
The updated touch keyboard design builds on the company’s work with Windows 10X, bringing new key press animations, sounds, and all the all-important ability to search for and insert animated GIFs. The selection of GIFs, supported by GIF database Tenor, will be continuously updated based on current trends and hashtags.
Microsoft called this the WonderBar for Windows 10X, and the new design in Windows 10 also includes better layouts that are optimized for typing, and the ability to move the cursor in through the space bar on the touch keyboard. This is very similar to how iOS lets you operate the cursor, by placing a finger on the space bar and sliding left, right, up, and down to navigate around.
Voice typing is introduced as a “new and improved” version of Windows dictation. The new version has been optimized for use with touch keyboards, has auto-punctuation and back end updates that should make voice typing faster and more responsive. You can also use voice commands to stop or pause voice typing and to delete or select certain words.
The voice typing feature has a button on the touch keyboard for easy access. The touch keyboard has been updated in other ways, including new key press animations and sounds, emoji and GIF search and small tweaks to key sizes and layouts.
All of these new Windows 10 changes are being tested with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel this week, and might not all show up for all testers. They’re part of a bigger update Microsoft is planning for Windows 10 in the first half of 2021.
